A Rift With Odin
by KaibaGirl007
Summary: In search of mysteries in Cardiff, Loki stumbles across a chance to come face to face with Odin and receive an answer to the question he's been trying to ask the almighty god for some time now.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, before _anybody _jumps in to moan at me that I'm starting yet another story when I still have several on the go to finish (which I will start updating again soon); this fic has/is being written as a birthday gift for a friend and since it contains only canon characters from each of the respective shows I thought others might like to read it also.**

**Set after series two of Torchwood and after the anime series for Loki. **

**I own no rights to characters since this is purely fanfiction and I'm poor :P**

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**Chapter One**

"Come on Loki, don't dawdle!"

"Remind me; why are we here again Yamino?" The shorter and seemingly younger of the two boys asked the taller one by his side. Together they shuffled after the over-active teenage girl as she raced ahead of them in the night-time park area behind the castle's grounds. He wore a long flowing black cape-like coat which was tied together by a huge white bow, carried a black puppy in his arms, and had a small pink creature not visible to anyone but themselves, that occasional chirped happily, - _'Punyan, punyan!'_, - as it hitched a ride by resting upon his head.

"Well Master Loki sir, it's all on the account of Miss Mayura." Yamino began to explain quite enthusiastically as they trudged on to catch up with the girl in question. "She entered a competition in one of her 'Super Mystery Detective' magazines and was fortunate enough to win the grand prize of holidaying in a paranormal activity hotspot of her choice …"

"You do know that he didn't really want all the details, don't you brother?" The puppy yawned in response to the taller boy's words. "Daddy was just being rhetorical."

Yamino seemed slightly taken aback by his big brother's statement. So much so, that his glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose. He pushed them back up. "Oh."

"Nonsense Fenrir." Loki cooed and tickled the back of one of the big black floppy ears. "I'm always interested in hearing whatever he has to say. Please Yamino, do continue."

"As I was saying, Miss Mayura won the competition and after much online research where she discovered reports of freak weather patterns, missing people, a variety of alien encounters, and even several Pteranodon sightings, she decided to choose Cardiff, Wales as her destination. And since the trip was for a party of three, we were invited along to accompany her."

Loki gave an amused sneer at one of the preposterous claims. "Aliens indeed."

Fenrir, - who'd escaped spending time in the visited country's quarantine procedure, all thanks to his big puppy-dog eyes, - tilted his head back to talk with the boy whose arms he was in. "Why _did _you agree to come Daddy?" It was pretty clear that his father didn't believe in the majority of things that the girl did, yet he had willingly accepted the invitation that had been made to him.

There was no answer from Loki who was paying more attention to the load alighting from his head. _'Punyaaan?' _The little pink spirit, - Ecchan, - broke away from them and floated closer towards Mayura who had stopped in their path several metres ahead.

"Er, I think we may be a little bit lost." She frowned whilst trying to consult the map that she struggled to hold with one hand and torch in the other. "I don't understand! I plotted everything out according to what I found online."

"Have no fear Miss Mayura, I'll sort out this dilemma for you." Yamino offered as he stepped forward to take the map from her.

The markings on the map, both drawn on by the teenage girl and the original ink printing, criss-crossed on so many occasions along with scribbled notes that weren't even legible, that it was hard to make the intended directions clear. He shone the torch around their unfamiliar surroundings to try and get a better grip of their location, but with the darkness and lack of landmarks or features besides the odd cluster of trees, it was of no help at all.

"Yes, I'd say we are most definitely lost." Yamino concluded. "We should double back the way we came."

"_Or_ we could just ask the locals for help!" Mayura exclaimed excitedly as she spotted a gang of shadowy figures in the near distance. "Maybe I'll even get a couple of eyewitness' accounts out of them to help me solve some mysteries!" She snatched back the map and torch, and flounced over to the group.

"I guess we better follow her." Loki sighed and they continued after their friend.

"Hey, excuse me!" Mayura shouted as she waved her arm in the air to get the gang's attention, and caused the map to crinkle and flitter from the motion. She needn't have bothered though as they were coming towards her. "We're lost and were wondering if you could …"

Her explanation trailed off as she couldn't help but gawk at the disfigured wrinkly face of not one, but all of the gang members' approaching her. For a moment she assumed that they had been in some kind of accident, - or was it possibly a birth defect? - and then felt excited and giddy when she realised that they were exactly what she had been looking for.

"Look Loki! Aliens!" She pointed her arm and waved it frantically. "See, I told you that they _do_ exist!"

'_Punyan!?!' _Ecchan was swift to fly back towards its master as one of the fierce creatures suddenly leapt forward at the girl.

Startled by the unexpected action, Mayura let out a huge scream and stumbled backwards, leaving her attacker with only a mouthful of the map she had previously held. Her feet became entwined with each other and she fell hard to the ground, knocking herself unconscious from the force of the descend.

Yamino raced to her side and Fenrir dived from his father's arms. The puppy landed on the ground and with teeth bearing, he roared like a hound of the underworld whilst Loki was about to summon his staff to deal with the demonic creatures, but stopped upon hearing several gunshots fired through the darkened air.

The wrinkle faced attackers growled angrily yet cautiously retreated their paces and regrouped. Their eyes watched the man striding up to position himself directly in front of the youths. With his gun arm confidently and firmly held locked onto them, he used his free arm to activate the hidden comms within his ear. "Jack?"

"Ianto?" The captain sounded breathless with his reply.

"I'm in the northern section, inward from the river; how far away are you?"

"Not far." There was the sound of heavy panting that effortlessly morphed into a chuckle. "Why, you missing me already?"

"It's not in the way that you have in mind, but yes I could do with your assistance right about now." Slowly the group of aliens daringly edged closer as they tested out the human's threat of commencing further firing at them. "I've got just one magazine left to defend a group of three youths from a shitload of Weevils with."

"A shitload eh?" There was a grunting amongst the breathless chuckling from the captain. "Nice to know our terminology for their grouping stuck and became official."

Gwen's frustrated voice could also be heard over the link between the two men. "Oh for goodness sake Jack, hurry it up and finish already!"

"You two had better be just Weevil hunting!!" Ianto exclaimed as he swiftly vanquished the inappropriate mental image of his lover and colleague that had been caused by the current sounds he was hearing.

"Well, you know me …"

"Exactly!!" The Welshman popped off another bullet that sent the Weevils snarling as they retreated back another step. He had been easily irritated by the way that Jack laughed and joked around with the issue of something suggestively sexual taking place. All of it was unnecessary jealousy, Ianto kept telling himself, but still there were tiny traces of doubt in his mind as to weather or not there was something, - anything, - more going on between Jack and Gwen. "Just hurry, yeah?"

"Be there in a sec." Seriousness had found its way back into Jack's tone of voice before the comms fell quiet between them.

Ianto took a deep breath and silently cursed at the fact that he hadn't gotten around to making sure that they as a team had properly re-equipped themselves for the spot of Weevil hunting in Bute Park that night. The fact that he was low on ammunition was why he had been heading back to the SUV when he had spotted the youths coming under attack, and prepared or not, he couldn't just walk by and leave them.

"Okay kids, here's what we're going to do."

"Watch who you're calling kids!" Fenrir retorted with a sour tone.

The Welshman quickly glanced over his shoulder at them and spoke over the commencing sound of puppy barks. "I'm going to distract and lead these creatures as far away as possible so that you can escape …" Several of the Weevils daringly stepped closer once more and he fired his gun again but this time the group of attackers failed to be intimidated the slightest. "Carry the girl and move as fast and as far as you can. My friends will be here shortly to provide back up, but you guys just keep on moving until you're back out on the city's streets; got it?"

"I've got another idea." Loki, now with his summoned staff in hand, stepped forward to stand alongside the man holding the gun. "How about I help you fight these demons instead?"

"A little squirt like you?!" Ianto snorted at the boy's laughable plan. _Where did that staff come from? He didn't have it a moment ago._ The Weevils stepped closer still and he fired another shot only to find out that he'd misjudged his ammunition and that he was now out of bullets. _Shit!! _"Run, now!"

Now aware, by the scared human's reaction, that their prey was completely defenceless, the group of aliens sprang forward in an all-out assault. They'd feast well tonight on something other than the sewage that flowed through their temporary home on the strange world that they had found themselves on. The sight of the youngling foolishly stepping up to his death as though they would spare him from such a fate only thrilled them more, as did the helpless yapping of the small black creature by his side.

'_Get back!'_ Ianto had wanted to scream at the boy who had calmly moved forward instead of making a speedy retreat with him. But his throat made no sound as he watched in fear and unable to stop the first Weevil towering over the small boy and puppy.

"_Vere luvadrok!_"

There was a blinding white flash that caused the Welshman to shield his eyes. Once it cleared he saw a diamond-shaped mirror hovering in front of the staff wielding boy. Inside the mirror a frozen image of the attacker stood with its teeth bared fiercely and ready for the kill.

"_Cuerious!_" At Loki's second command the mirror shattered into tiny fragments that disappeared into nothingness, taking its captive with it.

Ianto watched in awe as more Weevils were speedily imprisoned and disposed of in the same manner by use of the young boy's staff. Who was this boy? Had he come through the Rift? If so, how had he avoided Torchwood's detection? Was he dangerous to other humans? One thing was for sure was that Jack would need to know about this ASAP.

After seeing the rest of the group vanish one by one before its eyes, a lone Weevil tried to make an escape with his retreat but failed as Loki was quick to make sure that he destroyed every last one of the mysterious demonic creatures.

"Nice one Daddy!" Fenrir barked happily by his father's side.

"Thanks." Loki panted in reply. "I was pretty good wasn't I?" It felt like years, and not the actual months, since he'd last battled otherworldly creatures. He glanced across to his youngest son. "Yamino! How's Mayura?"

"Unconscious but breathing." The teenager assured from where he still knelt on the ground beside their fallen friend. "Doesn't seem to have obtained injury apart from a few minor bumps; she'll be okay once she comes around."

_Thank goodness! _Loki sighed internally. He'd never forgive himself if something serious had happened to her.

"Ianto!" The captain's voice sounded out through the darkness.

"Over here!" The Welshman shouted in response so that Jack would know which direction to head in to find them. It was then only a matter of seconds before he could see the form of his lover, - with Gwen following close behind him, - come into view in the natural light of the moon shining above them.

Jack came to a halt beside Ianto. His magnificent greatcoat was bloodied and torn as a result of his brawls with the Weevils that he and Gwen had just finished subduing. He clasped a hand on the younger man's shoulder and surveyed him for any sign of injury. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Ianto nodded, sounding a little shaken from the sight he had witnessed. After all the things he'd seen during his years of working for Torchwood and yet he was still taken by surprise of seeing a young boy with god-like powers?

Seeing that his lover had sustained no harm the captain now glanced around them. There was a young boy, - around ten-ish Jack guessed, - in some kind of fancy dress outfit and complete with staff and a small puppy at his feet. For some reason it felt like the dog was giving him a heated look but he shrugged this off as nothing more than his own imagination. A little further back he saw Gwen approach two teenagers, one of them lying down on the ground. Additional glances around them all found no signs of the aliens he'd been informed of. "Where's the Weevils that you were talking about then?"

Fenrir's nose sniffed the air as he caught a faint aroma of a scent he'd once known. He stopped as the greatcoat wearing stranger caught his eye and gave him a suspicious look, then conversed with his father about the discovery he had just made. "That guy smells like Odin."

"What?!" Loki exclaimed whilst keeping his voice as low as possible. He was greatly surprised to learn that they'd encounter the god who had banished him to the human world inside a human body also. "Are you sure that's him?"

"No, he's not him; he just smells _of _him." The black dog explained a little better as he gave another sniff. "Underneath the odour of coffee and sweat, there is the distinct whiff of him having had close contact with Odin. Deeply rooted and pretty recently too."

One by one, Loki's fingers flexed to gain a firmer hold of the staff in his hand. If this man had connections with the god he sought answers from, then he'd persuade him to arrange an audience with Odin, even if he had to capture and force the captain to do so himself. And after previous experiences with some of his foes, he'd be a fool not to act on impulse and get what he desired.

"Ah. They've been taken care of." Ianto assured his lover with regards to the alien attackers.

"Taken care of? All of them? On your own?"

Out of the corner of the Welshman's eye, - that had been drawn to the yapping puppy, - and over Jack's shoulder, he saw the boy raising his staff and pointed it directly at the captain's back. After what he had seen happen to the Weevils he became quite fearful of what would happen to Jack if he'd ever ended up inside one of the mirror prisons that the boy was capable of summoning, but more importantly, destroying. Could he ever reform himself from such a fate?

Probably not, Ianto decided since the shattered fragments dissolved into oblivion right before his eyes. There'd be no way that Jack could ever come back to life if there was no body for him to do so in. As he saw the first command about to be shouted out by the boy, he was quick to act and pushed his lover with all his might. "Down!"

"_Vere luvadrok!_"

Brilliant white light flashed throughout the immediate darkness and Jack groaned as he hit the ground hard. _What happened? Ianto?_ He quickly scuffled around to see behind him.

The light cleared and all that remained where they had once stood a moment ago was a single diamond shaped mirror slowly turning in mid air. In horrified silence the captain's mouth gaped and eyes dilated at the sight of the Welshman's frozen image trapped within the prison. _Ianto!!_

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**A/N: The person who this fic is being written for will receive all chapters upon their completion, but if you want to continue reading then I need at least one review per chapter to let me know so.**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Gwen parted from her captain as they came up to the group who were allegedly under attack from a pack of Weevils, though she couldn't see a single one anywhere nearby. Mentally she shook her head in disbelief. The lack of attackers suggested that it had been nothing but pure tom foolery from her colleague as the two men seemed to be unable to keep their hands to themselves for more that ten minutes these days. But still, there was an unconscious girl who needed her help.

"Hello, I'm Gwen Cooper." She introduced herself to the teenage boy tending to the girl on the ground. "I'm here to help your friend."

"I'm Yamino." He replied back with an outstretched hand for the woman to shake. "Thank you for your offer of help."

A smile snuck on Gwen's face as she accepted the handshake. It was such a rarity to meet a well mannered youth nowadays, and one who was so calm in the 'supposed' given situation. "What happened to your friend?" She crouched down to get a closer look at the unconscious girl.

"Miss Mayura just took a bit of a fall. Nothing serious; she'll be fine when she wakes up."

The way which the boy had addressed his friend took Gwen by slight surprise. Nobody except servants, Ianto, and sweet old Mrs Biggs from down the road from her and Rhys, _ever_ used 'Sir' or 'Miss' to address another, no matter how they were equated to the person in question.

Suddenly the sound of two voices shouting over each other, followed by a bright blinding light, caught Gwen's attention. She shielded her eyes as she fought to stare in the direction of the chaos. When the light faded she mirrored the expression worn by her captain as she saw what had become of their colleague.

"Ianto?" Jack's voice was nothing more that a confused whisper as he continued to stare at the diamond encased form of the Welshman. He hadn't come across any kind of being that had the ability to do such a thing. Was his lover still alive in there? Dead? _No! _Like a switch at the thought of having lost Ianto from his life, the captain flung himself towards the young boy.

Still stunned at having captured the wrong man with his magic, Loki lost the hold on his staff as he was gripped tightly by the anger fuelled stranger and it fell to the ground with a thud as his body was hoisted into the air.

"What did you do to him?!" Jack demanded angrily and shook the boy in his grasp. Part of him wanted to lose control and beat the boy black and blue; he wasn't part of this world, or at least timeframe, so what would it matter after what he'd done to Ianto? But the more humane part of him clung in control and reminded him that this boy was nothing more than a child; just like Steven, and there wasn't anything that'd make him lift a hand to his own grandson, or any other child for that matter.

Loki now found it difficult to breathe from the tightened clothing around his neck where he had been grasped and began to cough and wheeze as he tried to respond to the narrowed glare fixed on him.

"Daddy!" Fenrir leapt at his father's attacker and sank his teeth straight into the man's arm.

Annoyed by the nip he had received, Jack flung his arm and easily shook it free from the puppy dangling there. He had to admire the small creature's devotion to its master, but seriously, was that pathetic bite supposed to hurt him? His attention drew back to the boy. "You had better undo what you did to Ianto or else… Ugh!"

The captain didn't get the chance to finish his threat as he felt more teeth on his arm as they buried themselves deep within his flesh. He let go of the boy and now found a huge black dog, - no it wasn't a dog, it was a wolf, but where had that come from? - release its jaws and then prepared to come at him for another attack.

Quickly Jack drew his Webley and shot off several bullets at the vicious beast.

"Brother!"

The gunshots missed their target indicating just how severely the captain's arm had been injured as he never usually missed his mark. Jack's arm wavered as he tried to line up his aim and fire again. He watched his attacker come closer and then suddenly stop as it spied something over his shoulder. Foolishly Jack turned to look too but his gun, - still quivering from the pain in his arm, - remained pointed at the wolf.

There stood directly behind him was a giant snake. Its body was mostly coiled together on the ground though its head hovered way above the captain as it swayed to perfect its aim before diving down at him without warning.

"_Aargghhh!_" Jack let out a roar of pain as the snake's fangs penetrated through his upper torso and injected him with burning venom.

Using the sudden rush of hormones produced by his body to help combat the excruciating pain flaring throughout, he gained the strength needed to redirect the aim of his gun and fired at the snake. He hadn't been excepting to hit it at all with such a spontaneous shot so was extremely pleased when he heard a loud hiss blown in his face as the bullet skimmed the scaly form.

Jack steadied his hand a little more as he prepared himself to take another shot. This time he wouldn't miss; how could he when had the barrel pushed up against the snake's sinuses? He fought back the pain as he felt the endorphins fade within him and attempted to squeeze the trigger of his Webley once more.

_Crunch! _With one swift bite the wolf tore clean the threat to the serpent's life.

Hot blood oozed into the captain's mouth as he bit down hard on his tongue to stop him from screaming out again. Tears streamed from his scrunched up eyes as he struggled to control his rapid breathing through gritted teeth.

Eventually Jack opened his waterlogged eyes and viewed the stub of his arm where his hand should have been. He'd faced and lived through much worse tortures in his time but still his body was struggling to stay conscious. Dying on a job was not something he liked to let happen, but right now he could do with a fresh restart for his body.

Loki coughed and spluttered where the greatcoated man had dropped him. As he fought for the use of his voice to return he had no choice but to watch the fight that had broken out. He was filled with a sense of pride as both of his sons had come to his aid and each others' but had to stop them as he needed the skewered man alive.

"Stop!" He managed to shout as he saw Fenrir land in front of him with the freshly severed hand.

"Yes Daddy." Obediently the wolf dropped the contents of its mouth and slowly morphed back into the small puppy.

"Yamino, don't kill him!" Loki shouted up to the serpent's raised head. "I need him alive."

"I think that it may be a bit late to guarantee his survival." The snake's speech was muffled with the captain still pierced inside its mouth. "Sorry father." Carefully he lowered his head to the ground and retracted the fangs that had gushed the toxic poison upon their penetration.

Jack flopped down on the ground with two huge stab wounds that now flowed freely with blood. If the remaining venom burning inside his system didn't kill him first, he knew that the blood loss soon would. He saw the young boy now peering over him where he laid unable to move, but at least his mouth still worked as he spat blood and sneered; each word causing him a huge amount of pain. "I got a few words … I'd like to say … unfortunately … they're not suitable … for pretty little ears … like yours..."

"Where's Odin?" Loki asked. He was aware that the man was angry, would die soon, and doubted that an apology would do him much good.

"What?!" A confused expression momentarily flickered on Jack's face before it scrunched up with pain once more.

"Odin. I know you've been in contact with him. Where is he?" There was no reply from the disgusted stare he received from the rapidly life fading man so Loki decided to issue an apology after all in the hope that it would prompt the response he wanted. "Sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen, but I need to know where he is."

Still no reply as the man's breathing become shallower.

"Please, it's important. I need to find him!"

From beyond his discomfort the darkness called to Jack and before he got the chance to tell the boy that he didn't have a clue about the person he was searching for, he was dragged away by the strong and insistent force of death.

"_Damn!"_ Loki muttered at seeing the eyes roll back inside the dead man's head. Relying on instinct and travelling to the foreign country, he'd come so far to tracking down the god he sought and now his lead was at an end.

"_Punyan." _Ecchan returned to his master's head and offered words of comfort to the disappointed god. _"Punyan, punyan, punyan."_

"Thanks." Loki petted the little pink spirit who had assured him that he'd find the other god someday in the foreseeable future and not to blame himself for the man's unfortunate death. He turned and glanced downwards at Fenrir who sniffed at the dead body and then over to Yamino who was now in his human form, nursing a shallow bullet wound to his left arm. All the while there was silence as he made his way to them.

Suddenly the stillness of the air was interrupted by the sound of a clicking hammer of a gun getting ready to shoot. "Who, or rather what, are you?" Gwen demanded as she stood beside the fallen girl and with her gun locked onto the boy she had seen Jack go for a moment earlier. Without any ammunition in her gun she had been forced to sit back and let the fight proceed to the end. Now she hoped that her bluff of threatening to shoot would pay off and get her information out of the group.

"Shall I disarm her Daddy?"

"No, there's been enough bloodshed." Gwen watched as the boy shook his head in reply to the series of yaps that had just come from the puppy before he answered her question. "Trust me ma'am; you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Try me!" As Gwen waited for the boy to start his explanation there was the sound of a crack coming from the diamond shaped mirror which held her friend captive. She looked over to see that a fracture slowly grew bigger across the fragile prison and then another break forming beneath that. Her attention was snagged back from Ianto and to the boy who moved towards where the fallen staff lay. "Freeze, or I'll shoot."

"Okay, it's your call." The boy stepped back into position and away from his staff. "But if that mirror breaks before I can undo my magic, then your friend will cease to exist."

Now Gwen became unsure of what to do. If what the boy was saying was true, well she didn't want anything bad to happen to Ianto. But if he was bluffing, and she believed his lie in order for him to retrieve his staff, then she'd be defenceless with her empty gun if he challenged her with his weapon.

"You may want to hurry with your decision Miss Cooper." Yamino urged as the second split grew bigger. "Master Loki's magic won't hold forever."

Had she not seen the teenager transform into the giant snake and back then she might have instantly done as he had told her. He was polite and had an honest face so why not? _Because he's just murdered Jack that's why! _She screamed at herself. Okay her boss was immortal and could come back from the dead but that was besides the point…

_Craaaack!!! _

"Okay, but any funny business and I'll shoot." The sound of yet another fracture threatening to break the fragile diamond prompted her to make the decision with another bluff of firing her weapon. She couldn't just stand there and possibly let her friend die as a result of doing nothing to try and prevent it. If this Loki boy was lying and attacked her instead…Gwen hadn't quite thought that far ahead, and as she watched him pick up the staff and point it at the mirror prison, it looked like she wouldn't need to either.

"_Hoebus!_"

The Welshman was released the moment that the command left Loki's mouth. He re-materialised from the fading diamond, turned back to his normal self and landed hard on the grassy earth below him.

"Ianto?" Gwen called as she sidetracked over to him whilst keeping her aim fixed on the boy; just in case.

"I'm okay." He insisted as he stood and rubbed the sore area of his behind that had taken most of the impact from the fall. His eyes were fixed on Loki, particularly on the young boy's head where he could now see the small pink spirit, and tried to dislodge the hallucination with a prolonged blink.

No good, the creature was still there so Ianto chose to do the next best thing by ignoring and not making a fuss about what he had seen. His eyes diverted to land on the lifeless captain. "Pity we can't say the same thing about Jack." Slowly he moved to retrieve the missing limb and then approached the bloodied body of his lover. The unpleasant sight caused his stomach to turn but he managed to keep his wit. "I can't believe that I sacrificed myself and yet you _still_ managed to get yourself killed."

There was a feeling of guilt tugging away at Loki as he watched the Welshman kneel down beside the corpse with his back to him and blocking the deceased from view. "I'm sorry about your friend's death."

"It's okay." Ianto spoke weakly to the boy. In front of him he watched as the tissue and bone of the severed hand began to reattach itself to Jack's body and the gapping chest wounds close up to leave only tattered clothing behind. He sat patiently, - and now silently, - waiting for the moment when the other man would awake.

"I didn't intend to harm him." Loki continued and tried to justify his actions from just a short while ago. "All I wanted was his cooperation …"

"And you thought you'd get that by sealing him in a pane of glass?" Gwen questioned sceptically. She received a wide eyed apologetic look from the boy who seemed to seek forgiveness for the outcome that had accrued. Boy, was he in for a surprise.

"It's a little hard to explain …" Loki's voice was cut off by the sound of an extremely deep inhalation as the captain revived.

With his first intake of fresh breathe Jack lunged forward and back into life. Every time his body would react in the same manner from the terrifying experience of being dragged across broken glass, but this time he felt himself restrained from behind.

Reaching up he fumbled at the thing that held him so tightly that it almost stopped the physical shaking caused as a result of the trauma from his revival. An arm he figured, but whose he wasn't completely certain though he did have a fairly good idea from the texture of the fabric beneath his fingertips. "Ianto?"

"Yup, I'm here, I've got you." The Welshman held on tightly, refusing to let go of his lover as though the embrace would be their last. He'd seen the scared look in Jack's eyes each time he had had to witness the revival process and wanted the other man to know that he wasn't alone to cope with it on his own anymore. Not while he was around.

_Oh thank god!_ Jack closed his eyes as he breathed a heavy sigh of relief from not having lost the man he loved. He clung on to him tightly in return and savoured the comfort provided that made his revive that little bit more bearable.

The two men gradually parted and the captain was helped back up onto his feet. Jack stood there in his crimson shredded greatcoat and smirked at the bewildered looking faces gawking at him. "What's wrong boys? You never seen a man come back to life before?"

"What the _fuck_ is going on here?!" Fenrir barked demandingly.

"Okay?!" Ianto almost jumped a mile at hearing the puppy speak and looked at Loki. "That pink blob on your head I can deal with, but talking dogs?" He shook his head. "No way!"

Gwen and Jack exchanged looks, each of them urging the other to be the one to tell the Welshman that he'd been imagining things.

Caving in to that stubborn look which he secretly loved, Jack was the one to eventually speak up. "Ianto, when you say talking, you don't mean that in the literal sense right?"

"That's exactly what I mean."

"No you're hearing things sweetheart; the dog didn't say a word, it only barked." Gwen felt the need to provide back up for Jack and finally lowered the gun in her grasp. "And there's no pink blob on his head either so you're seeing things too."

"Oh I wouldn't sound so sure if I were you." Loki replied, still stunned by seeing the dead captain revive, hearing the unlikely f-word leave his son's mouth, and the Welshman with the ability to now see and hear things which most mortals could not. "It seems that since being release from my magic it has left your friend with some side effects."

"_Punyan?" _The pink spirit left its master's head once more and floated over towards the Welshman who seemed to almost flinch away from it.

"No need to fear, Ecchan's completely harmless." Loki assured.

Ianto forced a half smile as the creature floated around in mid-air just inches away from him. "Kind of reminds me of something from an anime I used to watch. Small, round and insanely cute."

"_Punyaaan!"_ Ecchan exclaimed happily as it performed a series of summersaults and then returned to the favoured nesting spot atop the laughing boy who now felt more at ease around the three strangers.

Feeling like they'd been left out of some kind of elusive club, Gwen and Jack exchanged another bemused stare before Jack asked, "Who are you guys?"

The laughing stopped though the smile remained on the small boy's face as he introduced himself. "I am the Norse god Loki."

"That figures." The captain snorted. "A little brat like you in charge of mischief and chaos; also explains why you're looking for some guy called Odin." He smirked mockingly. "Sorry though, can't help you."

"That's obviously a lie." Loki shot back calmly and amazed that the man hadn't doubted what he'd been told. It was like he must deal with abnormal things on a regular basis so was open minded to what most people would refuse to accept when heard. "Fenrir smelt his scent on you."

Jack shook his head. "Impossible. I don't know him."

"He didn't say that you did, just that you've had contact with him." Ianto pointed out. "Think Jack, what have you done these past few months? You might have unknowingly encountered him during that time."

"In that case then it could have been anyone." The captain shrugged lazily. Despite that fact that the question had been phrased politely enough, what his lover actually meant was, _'Okay, you've been rumbled, who have you been cheating on me with?' _Of course there hadn't been anybody. "You know how busy we've been with the residential Weevils and then there were, - to name just a few, - the Daleks, two trips abroad, Jackson Leaves, sin eating insects, apocalyptic pallbearers … Hey!" He broke off as the puppy came closer sniffing frantically all the while. "You get any more acquainted with my leg and I'll introduce you to my boot!"

Fenrir ignored the unhappy reaction from having pressed his nose up against the man's lower right limb. "There it is again!"

"Odin's scent?" Ianto asked in response to the faint growl like sound.

"Yes it's there, but this … _sniff_ … this is something else." He breathed in again so that the many different odours filled the receptors inside his nose_. _"Blood, dirt, sweat, coffee…"

A raised eyebrow and an accompanying whine was sent Jack's way.

"What?" The captain asked the cynical looking dog and then turned to his lover for a translation. "What'd he say?"

"The same thing that I tell you a quite frequently."

"To indicate when I'm driving?"

"No." Ianto breathed out tiredly. What the hell did Jack think his driving skills had to do with scent? "That you should shower after sex."

"What!?!" He gawked down at Fenrir before his attention shifted to Gwen who avoided his gaze whilst keeping her lips tightly purse together to stop further laughter escaping. The captain straightened himself up again as he tried to keep as much dignity as possible and jeered the Welshman. "Yeah, well I'd rather smell like me then an overpowering strawberry."

Ianto's eyes narrowed at the jest that had been made; Jack would never let him live it down that he'd accidentally picked up the wrong type of shower gel last time he'd done his shopping. It was an easy mistake to make for anyone who had been awake for over forty hours and he didn't intend on correcting it to only let the summer berry scented one go to waste, so had gone ahead and used it.

"At least he's clean."

"My point exactly." Ianto agreed with the remark that Fenrir had quietly muttered. "You completely read my mind."

"He can read minds too?!" Gwen asked amazed but received an odd look from the Welshman.

"Figure of speech Gwen, figure of speech."

"Oh."

"Look, can we hurry this, - whatever it may be, - up?!" Jack was becoming impatient and frustrated with not being able to understand what it was that the dog was conversing. At least when Owen and other past team members had made snippy remarks he could comeback with some kind of retort.

Fenrir took another nose full of the captain's scent. "Odin. And …?" He paused and looked at his father. "Are you sure that you haven't met this guy before Daddy?"

"Positive." Loki assured. "I think that I would remember meeting a man who couldn't die." He looked at Jack. "How is that possible anyway?"

"Long story." The captain breathed deeply. He never much liked talking about the finer details of his past with anyone, even Ianto, though the Welshman was aware of this particular tale. "The short version is that my friend, she accidentally resurrected me and now I can't die."

"Your friend being a goddess?" Yamino questioned in the hope that it would provide a clue to how the man may have had contact with Odin.

"Depends on who you ask." Jack smirked as he remembered the day he met and rescued Rose as she dangled in the night time sky above wartime London. How her behind had filled the view from his binoculars; the way she'd fainted in his arms after arriving onboard his ship before they later danced on top of it with the cloaking on in front of Big Ben. If only she hadn't had eyes for the Doctor … He became aware that he was spending too long in his memories. "No, she wasn't. Just a normal everyday human."

Things went silent for a moment and then the little black dog began to inhale once more. "I need my nose examined." Fenrir whined as he took one final sniff of the captain. "There's a very faint whiff of you on him too Daddy."

"What!?!" Both Yamino and Ianto exclaimed at the same time.

"Hmm, this just keeps getting weirder." Loki spoke aloud before pondering to himself. _Who is this man?_

"_Punyaan, punyan!"_

"Yes Ecchan, Mayura would indeed say such a thing about this mystery." The boy agreed with the spirit on his head.

"Oh my, Miss Mayura!" Yamino exclaimed. He'd forgotten all about her since morphing into his true form and going to his brother's aid against the greatcoated man.

Loki watched as his youngest son, - still nursing the wound on his arm, - returned to their unconscious friend and frowned. How could she have slipped his mind too? They had to get her some place more comfortable than outside in the open night air. He turned to Jack. "Would it be possible for you to accommodate us until she wakes up?"

"I think that that would be a good idea." Ianto spoke up. "That way we could try and figure out what connects you both to each other."

Jack nodded. "Okay, you're coming with us. Gwen, help Ianto carry the girl…"

"Mayura!" Loki corrected Jack on his terminology. He disliked the way that he'd just referred to her as 'the girl' as though she were a nobody. "Her name's Mayura."

"Okay." Jack drew out the word as he looked at the offended glare of the young boy. "Carry _Mayura _back to the SUV."

"SUV?" Yamino asked as the two Welsh colleagues supported the teenage girl's weight between them.

"Yeah." The captain snorted. "Got a problem with that?"

"I haven't." He replied. "But Master Loki has a touch of Amaxophobia."

Jack's face was blank as was Gwen's. "What's Amaxophobia?" She asked.

"It means, he has a fear of riding in vehicles." Ianto explained to her; displaying his almost never ending source of knowledge once more.

"Really?" The captain's lips turned in a sly upwards curve at hearing the Welshman's words. He swept the boy up with one arm. "Come on squirt, you can ride shotgun with me."

"_Punyaaan!"_ Ecchan relocated to Yamino's head as they watched his master being helplessly carried away.

"Who you calling squirt?!" Loki bellowed with his arms and legs flailing wildly and not wanting to go anywhere near the black four by four. "Put me down! Put me down!"


End file.
